


All It Takes Is A Lick Of Work

by appldor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, shiro hunk nd pidge make fleeting appearances ...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 13:30:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9738026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/appldor/pseuds/appldor
Summary: "Soulmate AU where you can summon your soulmate at any time except to do it you need to lick your elbow."





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is a silly little thing that grew out of a group chat. general gist of the AU is
> 
> \- lick elbow (of the arm of ur dominant hand) to teleport to ur soulmate. If ambidextrous well then lucky u, u got 2 elbows to work w  
> \- lick their elbow to return home  
> \- most common method is to dislocate ur shoulder but there are people out there who can lick their elbow w no problem  
> \- this universe is full of plot holes but you know what thats what makes it fun (also unedited .... Sorry)
> 
> Dedicated again to Adri (the brains behind this story) my pal, my valentine -- and happy birthday dude

Lance is bored. 

 

It’s a late Saturday afternoon in the middle of July when he decides to dislocate his shoulder, and lick his elbow. With a slight thud, Keith suddenly appears before him in a sitting position, as if he was sitting in front of a computer before he was so  _ rudely  _ interrupted. He’s clad in alien-print pyjamas with the worst bed-head Lance has ever seen. 

 

Falling to the ground, Keith’s eyes widen in surprise.

 

A beat passes.

 

“Hey babe.”

 

Keith turns to the voice, and leers at Lance. 

 

“You again.” 

 

Lance is highly amused. Keith, however, is not. 

 

\---

 

“Hey Keith...”

 

“Yeah…? What’s up?.”

 

“You know… I’d… dislocate my shoulder for you.”

 

Sighing, Keith asks, “Was that meant to be a pick up line? Because it doesn’t really work if you’ve already done it before,” He gives Lance a pointed look, “ _ several _ times.”

 

\-- 

 

**A couple months ago.**

 

It was the first time they saw each other. Lance was curious. He wanted to try it out -- the whole soulmate thing. He didn’t know how long the practice had been around for, but knew it was common knowledge for someone to lick the elbow of the arm of their dominant hand, in order to summon their soulmate. If the person as ambidextrous, they were considered lucky. Two elbows meant more variety and well, as they say, variety is the spice of life. The most common method was dislocating a joint in that arm (usually the shoulder, which led to the rise of a lot of shoulder relaxants), licking the elbow, and then having one’s soulmate help pop it back in. Some others however, are what Lance considers blessed and cursed with long tongues, or short arms. 

 

Back to the matter at hand, (or rather, elbow), he simply wanted to see who his soulmate was. He was resting in the nurse’s office at school after his shoulder popped out during a wrestling match. The nurse had stepped out for a moment, “I’ll just get some ice, be back in a jiffy!” She gave him a look™, “And don’t even think about moving.” 

 

Who was Lance to listen to some old cranky lady? It wouldn’t really hurt right? Not any more than it did already anyway. Who cares -- and so he did it. 

 

Moments after his mouth left his elbow, a boy around the same age as him appears, looking very confused. He’s decked out in fencing gear, but without the helmet. 

 

Disgruntled he asks, “Who the hell are you? And where am I?”

 

“Oh you’ve done it now Lance…” he whispers to himself. However, this is no time to be shy! He clears his throat and speaks up, “Hi. Um. Funny story, but I think I’m your soulmate? Haha… “

 

The boy manages to look even more surprised than before, “You’re my what?!” 

 

“Yeah. I… dislocated my shoulder and decided I might as well try this thing out since there’s no time like the present. And now here you are in the middle of… nowhere it seems. Well not really nowhere, we’re in my school infirmary and well- sorry about that.” 

 

“...Ok then.” He still looks slightly wary. “Are you ok?”

 

“Yeah I just popped it out in my last match, you know how wrestling is. Very rough.” 

 

“I see.”

 

An awkward silence develops. Lance is staring at the gorgeous boy who apparently is his soulmate but yet has not given his name. The said boy is purposefully avoiding eye contact by looking around the room. Lance wasn’t having any of it. 

 

“I didn’t know my soulmate was so awkward.”

 

Keith squawks indignantly, “Well I didn’t expect to be transported to the middle of nowhere while in class!”

 

“Touché. Well, stranger, let’s break this ice. My name’s Lance, and I’m studying to be a pilot. How about you?”

 

Grumbling, and accepting his fate, Keith replies, “...I’m Keith, and I’m also studying to be a pilot. ”

 

“Not the talkative type are you?”

 

“No, not really when I’m faced with a stranger.”  _ Well he’s got a mouth on him.  _

 

“I’m not really a stranger though!” Lance flutters his eyelashes dramatically and clasps his hands together, “we’re  _ soulmates _ !”

 

“Hmm. That appears to be so. Unfortunately.”

 

“Wow, buddy we’ve known each other for a total of like 2 minutes, you wound me.” 

 

Keith seems a bit abashed, “Sorry. This doesn’t really happen every day so I’m not sure what to do.”

 

“Me either bud. Don’t sweat it.”

 

Silence again. Neither of them know what to say to each other, but to Lance’s surprise it’s Keith who speaks up first. 

 

“So… how do I get back?” 

 

“Wow so keen to get rid of me already sugarbooger?”

 

“What kind of disgusting nickname is that? And yes. If you keep that shit up. I mean I was also in the middle of class so…” 

 

“I think it’s cute! And, that is a good question, huh. What if you just fly back? You said you were in class right? We probably live in the same country… I think.”

 

Keith gave Lance this look as if to ask,  _ are you stupid? _ (Keith would later learn this answer the hard way). “How? I have no money on me whatsoever.”

 

“Good point.”

 

The silence returns, but this time it has a purpose -- pondering how to get Keith back home. 

 

Lance lightens up. Keith already knows it’s a bad idea and he just met the guy. 

 

“I got it! What if… You lick…  _ my  _ elbow!”

 

“No, Lance. I’m not doing that.”

 

“Alright then. Enjoy flying back home. Or walking. Whatever floats your boat.”

 

Releasing an exasperated groan, Keith reluctantly accepts. “Ok ok fine.”

 

He walks over to Lance. The latter is so pleased with himself. He raises his non-injured arm, and Keith, closing his eyes, grudgingly licks his elbow. 

 

A slight change in the air, and Keith’s back home. He opens his eyes to find himself back in the classroom at the Garrison. 

 

The nurse returns, and pops Lance’s shoulder into place, with a pack of ice to soothe the pain. 

 

In spite of this, the two idiots realise the same crucial thing that would have saved them so much pain in the future -- “ _ Holy shit you didn’t even get his phone number. _ ”

 

\---

 

It’s the middle of the day and Lance is at the library in an empty study room. Hunk and Pidge stepped out to grab food, and Lance claimed under the pretense of wanting to ‘study more’ was left all alone. Study notes littered the table, and staring at it did not help the headache that was slowly forming. Honestly, studying is not worth this time no matter what anyone says, and he was sick of it, so Lance braced himself, popped his shoulder out, licked his elbow, and waited for Keith to arrive. 

 

It wasn’t long before he heard a groan coming from the corner of the room closest to Lance. His shoulder hurts but it is  _ so _ worth it. 

 

Keith is lying on the floor, (shirtless, Lance may add) staring at the roof, silently asking the gods what he had done to deserve this. He just wanted to nap.

 

“...Please stop doing this while I’m asleep.” He sounds tired, but his tone is laced in fondness. 

 

Lance is sitting in the chair, arm hanging limply. “But I missed you.”

 

Keith doesn’t need to turn his head to see the stupid puppy dog eyes his boyfriend is currently making at him. 

 

“This is so dumb.”

 

\--

 

“Lance. Please. I have a phone, couldn’t you just-”

 

“It’s not romantic enough.”

 

“Ugh. I hate you.”

 

“No you don’t.”

 

\---

 

Keith is at war with himself, albeit a stupid, tiny war. “This is the most moronic thing I’ve done by far.” 

 

He takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes. Repeating his mantra, he takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes. “Now or never now or never, " now or n-” He takes off, sprinting at full speed, and rams himself into the wall. His shoulder makes a little  _ pop _ and he’s pretty sure there’s a slight dent in the plaster now. 

 

Shiro’s concerned voice echoes from downstairs, “Is everything alright Keith?”

 

“Yeah,” he groans, “don’t worry… my chair just hit the wall a bit too hard.”

 

Keith can tell Shiro’s not convinced, but thank god he doesn’t come up to check. “If you say so…”

 

He gets up, and sits with his back against the wall. His shoulder hurts so  _ fucking much  _ \- how does Lance do this all the time? Well, that’s not really the problem at hand right now. He’s got a dislocated shoulder and an elbow that isn’t going to lick itself. Ignoring the pain, he bends down towards his right elbow and does the job. 

 

Lance arrives with a slight  _ thump _ , thankfully standing upright. However, Keith notices that  _ of course he’s only wearing a fucking towel _ . Startled, Lance looks around the room before realising Keith ( _ Keith! _ ) is standing right there, staring. His face brightens up, and like a small child exclaims, “Keith! You do care!” He’s doing that thing again, where he has obnoxious heart shapes for eyes.

 

Averting his gaze, Keith’s face turns a light shade of pink. “Of course I do, you dumbass.”

 

“Aww Keith’s in love!” He can practically feel the smugness oozing out of Lance’s mouth. “It’s about time you did it as well since it was always me dislocating my shoulder! Man, do you know how much that hurts?”

 

Keith has tears beginning to stream down his face. “Yeah actually I do. A little help would be nice.”

 

“Oh shit! Sorry!” Realising his boyfriend was still sitting on the floor, Lance rushes over, “You know I have to pop this back in right?”

 

The tears won’t stop. Keith acknowledges with a little nod. 

 

“Take a deep breath, I’ll count to three, alright?”

 

“Yeah ok just please fix it already.” 

 

Calming himself, Lance begins with a, “One… Two-”, and with a flurry of movement positions Keith’s shoulder back into place. 

 

“You said on three!” he lets out a grunt of pain. 

 

“Sorry honey bun,” Lance really is apologetic, “it’s better if you’re not really expecting it.”

 

\-- 

 

A peaceful quiet blankets over them, but Lance is quick to break it.

 

“So,” he starts, “this is where you live.”

 

“Yep”, Keith pops the p, “This is where I live. In an ordinary room in an ordinary house.” 

 

Only now does Keith register how wet his legs are, and turns to his side where Lance is sitting, still soaking wet. 

 

“Were you in the shower?” he asks. 

 

Lance, realising as well that he is wearing nothing but a towel begins to stutter, “O-oh. Shit, yeah… um. Do you have some clothes I could borrow? Haha… You caught me at a bad time. Apparently.” Keith thinks that embarrassment looks cute on him. 

 

“I would suggest that you go home… You know, just lick my elbow and we’ll see each other at another time but… I did do the whole dislocating thing just for you.”

 

“Aww Keith you’re so sweet,” Lance smiles so fucking softly and saccharine-like that Keith feels himself melting inside. His teeth are metaphorically rotting. “but like, if I’m gonna stay here for a bit I’d rather I wear something other than a towel.”

 

Keith relents, “My clothes are in the wardrobe over there if you want to grab some. I’d get it myself but,” he gestures to his arm, “yanno. Kinda hurts.”

“Oh ok yeah don’t move it’ll be sore for a bit. I can get it myself.” Lance scrambles towards the wardrobe and gets a hold of some red shorts and a plain white top. He tries to inconspicuously put on the clothes while still wearing the towel, but is interrupted by Keith. 

 

“Don’t mind me, I’ll just be sitting right here, nursing my injured shoulder. Admiring my boyfriend from afar.”

 

Lance blushes, “Stop that.”

  
“If you say so.” Keith hums and shuts his eyes, making a point to turn his head away from Lance, who changes so fast you would think his life depended on it. 

 

“You can open your eyes now, but promise not to laugh.” 

 

“I don’t.” Keith opens his eyes, and lets out a little giggle. It’s such a silly sight to behold. 

 

In front of him, Lance is wearing a clearly way too small shirt ( _ it’s so tight!)  _ and the shorts are several sizes too small, revealing Lance’s slim mile long legs. Somehow Lance’s scrawny figure is bigger than Keith’s. (Maybe it’s because Lance is just a tad taller than him -- something that he never lets Keith live down.) 

 

“I feel bad making you do everything for me but I don’t think I can move properly without ice.”

 

“No, no! It’s absolutely fine! Do you want me to get some?”

 

“Yeah please if it’s not too much of a bother. The kitchen’s just on the right when you go downstairs. There should be some ice in the freezer just grab some and-”

 

“Keith,” Lance interrupts, “I got this. Don’t worry. I’ll be back in like 2 minutes.” 

 

“Also watch out for  Shiro - I don’t really want to explain to him why there’s this random lanky stranger wandering around the house.”

 

“Wait you haven’t told Shiro about us?” Lance gawks, “It’s been ages! Soulmates are a pretty big de-”

 

“I know, I know! I’ll get around to it. Eventually. It’s hard to hide stuff around him anyway. But please first, the ice,” Keith’s face scrunches up in disgust, “bumpkin.” 

 

Lance immediately goes on high alert, and salutes. “Be right back schnookums.”

 

Keith is left alone for no more than 2 minutes as Lance promised (not like Keith was counting or anything), and wraps the ice in a spare shirt he has lying around, putting it immediately to his shoulder. He sags in relief, “Could you help me to the bed please?” 

 

“Of course, anything for my pooky bear.”

 

“Lance you know I love you and all, but would it kill you to quit with the nicknames?”

 

“Never in a million years my beautiful creamy jiggles.” Keith gagged a little at that one. 

 

Once Keith was settled in his bed, Lance was left standing awkwardly next to it. 

 

“Come on, I did all this just for you to stand there? Lie down with me.”

 

Trust Lance and his perfect timing to look awkward at a time like this, “Are you sure? I can go home if you wanted to rest.”

 

“No come on, get over here.”

 

“Won’t your family wonder where you are?”

 

“Nah, it’s ok. They’re pretty chill about this soulmate stuff, because unlike a certain someone, they know I found mine already. Besides, as long as I come home within a reasonable hour, they should be alright.”

 

“Hmm…” Keith ponders, “if you say so.”

 

The room goes quiet, and Lance’s arms grip Keith’s waist just a little bit tighter. He nuzzles his face into Keith’s neck. It’s warm. 

 

“Got any plans for later?” he asks. 

 

Keith turns towards him, careful of the shoulder, and closes his eyes, “Not really. I could go for a nap with my boyfriend right now though.”

 

“Oh.” Lance smiles in understanding, “Me too, actually.”

  
He can see why Lance always does this now -- the elbow thing, that is. 


End file.
